Humboldt’s Paige Crozon leads Canadian 3×3 team to first Olympic berth

After years of preparation both on and off the court, Humboldt’s Paige Crozon will get to live out her childhood dream.

During the Victoria Day weekend, Crozon and the Canadian women’s 3×3 team qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning a single-game playoff against Hungary in Debrecen.

“It’s still a little bit surreal,” said Crozon when asked what she was feeling after officially qualifying for the Olympics.

“The process to the qualification was very rigorous. We were on the road for four-and-a-half weeks and had to go to two qualifiers. The moment we won that final game we were elated and relieved to have qualified and achieve the goal we set out five years ago, and to finally be coming home.”

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The journey to the Olympics has already taken Crozon and Team Canada around the world – literally.

They played their first game of the 3×3 circuit in Springfield, Missouri. That was followed by a trip to Japan for an Olympic qualifier where only one team qualified. They lost in the final.

After the trip to Japan, the Canadian players returned home for a brief respite before hopping on a plane to Hungary where to play in a last-chance Olympic qualifier.

“We went undefeated in pool play. We won the quarterfinals, and in the semis we faced Spain. (We) were tied until one second was left on the clock, and then one of the Spanish girls shot the ball over our head and it went in, which means they qualified for the Olympics and we had to play in the third-place game, with the winner advancing to Paris,” Crozon said.

“It was an amazing atmosphere, so it made the entire journey worth it. But there was so many ups and downs throughout that and it was really emotional,” she added.

Crozon’s team includes Michelle and Katherine Plouffe from Edmonton, who are twin sisters and long-time national team veterans, along with Lethbridge’s Kacie Bosch.

For most of the year, Team Canada was ranked as the top 3×3 women’s team in the world.

Because of their experience and time playing together over the course of the last half decade, Corzon thinks they will be the best-prepared 3×3 team heading into the Paris Games this summer.

“We’ve faced every single team in the Olympics, sometimes multiple times in order to get there, so we’re going to use it to our advantage until the end of July,” she explained.

“Michelle and Katherine Plouffe are previous Olympians with the five-on-five team. They’re veterans when it comes to the Olympics, and we’re going to utilize them with all their experience and expertise,” Crozon added.

Outside of 3×3, Crozon is a single mom who operates a non-profit basketball league in Saskatchewan called the Living Skies Indigenous Basketball League. She also serves as an assistant coach for the University of Lethbridge’s women’s basketball team.

Her basketball league offers a provincewide place for athletes who experience barriers to participation in sports to play for free.

She said she’s hoping that by qualifying for the Olympics, she’ll be able serve as a role model to the players in her league who want to achieve their own hoop dreams.

“I remember being a little girl in rural Saskatchewan and had really good role models to look up to. I looked up to Hayley Wickenheiser and Brianne Theisen from Humboldt, who was actually an Olympian. I know the importance of representation and having someone to look up to,” she explained.

“I really hope and aspire to be a role model to all young girls in Saskatchewan that want to pursue sport, and try to do my best to represent Saskatchewan proudly.”

The women’s 3×3 tournament at the Olympics takes place from July 30 to August 5.